Today, people often utilize computing devices (or systems) for a wide variety of purposes. Users can use their computing devices to, for example, interact with one another, access content, share content, and create content. In some cases, users can use their computing devices to create and provide multimedia or media content items, such as images, audio, text, status updates, comments, and/or posts. The content items can be presented and stored by social networking systems (i.e., social networking services, social media systems, social media services). In some cases, users can utilize computing devices to access or interact with media content, such as images and videos shared by other users via the social networking systems.
Under conventional approaches to viewing shared or posted media content, users often times must follow, connect with, or otherwise be subscribed to other users who shared or posted the media content. However, in many cases, users may desire to view shared, posted, or published content without having to follow, connect with, or subscribe to other users. In one example, conventional approaches can require a first user to befriend or subscribe to a second user in order for the first user to view or access ephemeral media content shared or posted by the second user. In this example, the first user may not want to befriend or subscribe to the second user. As such, conventional approaches can be inconvenient or undesirable. These and other concerns can create challenges for or reduce the overall user experience associated with accessing or otherwise interacting with content, such as ephemeral media content.